I’m devoting this Monday to meditation, reflection, and devotion to submission. I hope to select  topics that will get you thinking differently about some part of your life or submission and then just maybe grow a little bit further. If you have ideas for  topics that might work for a Meditation Monday,  please email me.

Winter is a hard time for me. I didn't always know that it was a thing that impacts a lot of people every year. I thought that I was a unique snowflake. Of course, now that I know, it doesn't make Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) any easier on me.  "About  4 to 6 percent of people may have winter depression. Another  10to  20 percent may have mild SAD. SAD is  four times more common in women than in men" ( American Academy of Family Physicians, retrieved 12/2/15). Having depression impacts my submission in many ways, but it also impacts me as a functioning human being. Chores get neglected, I sleep longer and take more naps. I am more likely to break down crying for no reason at all and stare wistfully out the window at the snow and wish it were sunny and warm.

More than that though I know that my mood changes the way that KnyghtMare interacts with me. He's well aware when I increase my medication for the season. He allows me more naps than usual. But he's also tiptoeing around my emotions and lightening the load of my obligations to him. In a way that's a blessing, but it also hurts. I know I can't function well enough for him so he takes care of me by not expecting as much and my little submissive brain doesn't see that he's doing it to help me but rather than I'm weak and a failure because he has to change how we interact so that I can get through the season.

Today and every day this Winter, I want to focus on healing and on joy. There are positive things in my life that should be noted. This depression is only temporary.

And with that, I'd like everyone to take some time out today to think about the positive things in their life. The people they love and that love them, the joy you get when you engage in your favorite things. How are you blessed and how do you bless others? It's not just a holiday thing, it's all things. Our lives are only as beautiful as we make them and sometimes we need to be reminded that even in down times there is beauty.

Seek the beauty. Always and in all ways. And get out in the sun when it's out. It has healing properties not only for the Winter Blues but for your overall emotional state.

If you find yourself really depressed this season, talk to your Doctor. You can get help to feel more yourself. It's worth it and you shouldn't be embarrassed. A lot of people feel the same way this time of year.